Monday, May 14, 2018
A Sichuan Airlines flight was compelled to opt for an emergency landing in the Chinese city of Chengdu on Monday after a windshield on the right side of the jet’s cockpit broke off, as per the China’s aviation authority.
No passengers have been injured in the incident but the pilot sitting in the right seat, who is usually the first officer, suffered scratches and a waist sprain, the Civil Aviation Administration of China’s (CAAC) Southwest Regional Administration said on its website.
A cabin crew member was also injured in the descent, it added. However it did not provide details on what had caused the windshield to break off abruptly during the flight.
The flight, Sichuan Airlines 3U8633, left the central Chinese municipality of Chongqing on Monday morning and was bound for the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, according to the airline authorities.
The flight tracking website FlightRadar24 indicated that the aircraft was an Airbus A319. A spokeswoman for Airbus said that the planemaker would offer all necessary support upon request by the CAAC and Sichuan Airlines.
Sichuan Airlines said on its official Weibo account that the flight had experienced a “mechanical failure” without providing further details. It said it had switched the flight’s passengers to another aircraft to carry on their journey to Lhasa.
Sichuan Airlines, a regional airline headquartered in Chengdu, operates mostly domestic flights but also flies internationally to countries such as Japan, Canada and the Czech Republic.
Incidents involving cracked windshields do happen on a regular basis due to occurrences such as bird or lightning strikes but ones involving entire windshields coming off are rare.
Tuesday, January 2, 2024
